Gail Carriger made a book tour stop in Houston, Texas for her new release, PRUDENCE : The Custard Protocol: Book One. In this latest novel, Alexia’s girl, now all grown up, with all the spunk of her mother and then some ventures to the exotic land of India. Her high priority, top secret mission involves tea, vampires and weremonkeys.

At Murder By the Book, Gail shared with her fans that she did a lot of research for this novel as it is set in India. The mythology used in the book including that of the Rakshasas, India vampires, and the Vanara, India weremonkeys is accurate. In her research she also uncovered the interesting historical tidbit that Bombay was originally several islands the English engineered into one by means of land reclamation projects.

Ms.Carriger also discussed how she comes up with such interesting names for her characters. She uses names for humor. Sometimes the name just comes to her as she’s writing like it did for her main character, Prudence. She also looks names up in Victorian registries and on tomb stones. Sometimes she likes a word so much she just adds a letter or letters at the beginning or end to make a name. Another way she choses names is what she calls cookies, meaning it’s a treat for anyone willing to do the research. She’ll pull a name from a real historical character or the name will have a hidden meaning or she’ll spell a word backwards for a name. One such cookie is Lord Akeldama. If you don’t know where and what Akeldama is, google it. It’s interesting. I have to say my favorite new character name in Prudence is Spoo, she’s a lively member of the Spotted Custard’s crew.

At the book signing, Ms. Carriger was asked how she explains Steampunk to people who aren’t familiar with it? She says, “Imagine living in a time period where you can take a hot air balloon to the moon.” Speaking of fiction genres, she also divulged that she likes military sci-fi including Rachel Bach’s Paradox series and Valor’s Choice by Tanya Huff. And she likes some romance in her sci-fi reads. Ms. Carriger even has a book club on Goodreads where you can read along with her. A book she likes is chosen each month. Also on My Book The Movie blog you can see who she would chose to cast for Prudence if it were a movie.

I read Prudence and I love the line,

Rue was moved to italics by the gesture. “Mine?”

As you can see from that sentence, PRUDENCE is as charming and humorous as all of Ms. Carriger’s books.

She could be a member of the Spotted Custard crew, perhaps Greaser Phinkerlington or even Spoo.

In PRUDENCE, the adventure begins when Dama gives Prudence an airship, which she paints to look like a lady bug and she names it the Spotted Custard. Of course her good friends Prim, Percy and Quesnel come along. Intrigue and espionage ensue, which Prudence thinks is all due to the special tea Dama has sent her for but it turns out it’s also about supernatural beings in India, the vampiric Rakshasas and the Vanara, weremonkeys. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say of course in the end Prudence manages to save the day.

The book is a funny, sweet, fresh delight. It’s ever so creatively original – after all it’s by Gail Carriger. I highly recommend PRUDENCE for anyone who likes good books and of course it’s a must read for all Gail Carriger fans.

Maeve Alpin, who also writes as Cornelia Amiri, is the author of 26 books. She creates stories with kilts, corsets, fantasy and happy endings. She lives in Houston Texas with her son, granddaughter, and her cat, Severus.

About a month ago, at /LoneStar/WorldCon in San Antonio, I attended the “I Married A Werewolf” panel on Paranormal/Romance. The panel was made up of authors: Darlene Marshall, Carrie Vaughn, Charlaine Harris, and also two authors with Steampunk credentials, Gail Carriger, well known author of the The Parasol Protectorate and the Finishing School series, and Jean Johnson, who in addition to her paranormal and sci-fi books wrote, Steam, a Steampunk short story in the The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Romance.

The label of paranormal romance came up and Gail Carriger mentioned that Orbit struggled with how to label her first book, Soulless. The label on the spine read – Fantasy/Horror. Jean Johnson said, “I considered my book The Sword to be a Fantasy/Romance, but I don’t deal with labels, that’s the marketing department. The publisher labeled The Sword as a Paranormal/Romance.”

Gail Carriger explained that she played with actual genres in Victorian literature in her five books in the Parasol Protectorate series. The first was based on Gothic Romance, the second on Gothic Cozy, the third on an American Boy’s Adventure, the 4th on a Sherlock Holmes Cozy, and the fifth is in a Travel Journal style.

In another LoneStar/WorldCon panel I attended, Gail Carriger spoke about world building. Along with Gail Carriger — Bryan T. Schmidt, Amanda Downum, and Robin Hobbs made up the “Intricate Worlds Panel”. The first question the panel addressed was what are some of your world building pet peeves?

Bruan T Schmidt’s answered, “Things that get overlooked.”

Amanda Downum’s said, “A static world or a world that hasn’t evolved. Where things have always been this way. For example, they have always used swords and horse drawn carts and nothing will change.”

Robin Hobbs said, “Cities that have no reason for being there. Cities that are hard to get to, so the characters have difficult challenges in reaching them but there doesn’t seem to be any other reason for the location of the city.”

Gail Carriger mentioned her pet peeve was not making use of objects representative of the characters’ culture. “Don’t discount objects your characters own or have with them as they can be very telling to the readers about those characters.”

Steampunk at World Con 2013

Ms. Carriger also gave advice for research and world building: “Call your local university. They are one of those untapped resources. Also, one of the secrets of world building is to piggy back on a culture that is little known or pick and choose and meld two cultures that never did blend in actual history.” She further advised, “You are the god or goddess of your own universe – you just have to explain the rules of your universe properly. You’re drawing up your own laws for this universe, so you can’t break those.”

The panels at LoneStar, WorldCon in San Antonio were great, full of interesting information and advice for my writing. Feel free to comment below with your own world building pet peeves or world building advice.

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Maeve Alpin, who also write as Cornelia Amiri, is the author of 19 published books. Her latest Steampunk/Romance is Conquistadors In Outer Space. She lives in Houston Texas with her son, granddaughter, and her cat, Severus.

Yeah, so I know Maeve already reviewed Timeless but I love these books so much, I’m going to gush about it anyway. I also haven’t done “Book Monday” in awhile (where I gush about books I love, for those of you who don’t know). So…here’s today’s book:

All good things must come to an end, and Timeless is the last book Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series. Sure, she has two new series coming out, but alas, Lord Maccon and Alexia’s story has come to an end.

I love these books – their charm, wit, humor, and ability to make me laugh out loud in undignified ways while on airplanes. Book #5 was no exception.

In this book Alexia and company travel to Egypt in an adventure that doesn’t disappoint. Prudence cracks me up, and Carriger accurate portrayal of life with a toddler (especially bathtime) had me rolling.

Though I was a tiny disappointed not to get the full Alexia origins story, this story did not disappoint overall. There was plenty of Ivy and her hats, Akeldam’s wit, Madame Lefoux’s intrigue, and the amazing love and respect shared by Lord Maccon and Alexia (which always makes me swoon).

And Biffy! I was pleasantly surprised by darling Biffy. I hope we haven’t seen the last of him.

I know we haven’t seen the last of Prudence and I look forward to reading about her in her series, Parasol Protectorate Abroad.

Maeve Alpin loves reading and writing about ancient times. It’s only natural that she loves alternative history just as much. She had a lot of fun combing the mystery and magic of ancient Egypt with the prim and proper, frill and lace, of an alternate Victorian age of steam robots and time travel machines for her As Timeless As Stone novella. Drawing on her love for a happy ending, she’s had sever…al works published: five romance novels, three novellas, and short stories in four anthologies. She lives in Texas with her family; her grown son, her granddaughter, and her spoiled cat, Severus. Visit her at http://MaeveAlpin.com In addition to her Steampunk/Romances she writes Celtic/Romances under the name Cornelia Amiri

Gail Carriger’s Book Signing & Review of Timeless

By Maeve Alpin

Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Protectorate series, entered Houston’s Murder By The Book store where rows of people, several in Steampunk costumes, sat in chairs with her books nestled on their laps. She greeted everyone with a dazzling smile and a perky, “Hello, My Darlings.”

“I believe in leaving a party before it’s over,” was her response to the question, why is Timeless the last book. She explained that if she walked out and got run over she’d known she’d left behind a finished series. She likes the package wrapped up with a big bow on top. The author also mentioned that Clueless had a cliffhanger ending because she didn’t have a contract at that time. With Blameless she knew they’d be five books in the series.

Now that the Parasol Protectorate series is finished with Timeless, what we can expect next is a young adult series, The Finishing School, which takes place in what really isn’t a finishing school at all. Also she will soon begin the first book in a series about Alexis and Conall’s daughter, who is also Lord Akeldama’s adopted daughter, the Parasol Protectorate Abroad series. The first book will be called Prudence and the second Imprudence. We have something else to look forward to, we will see familiar faces in both series.

As for Timeless, “The werewolves have a saying. It takes a pack to raise a child.” A pack, a vampire hive, a thespian troupe, and more if that child is a metanatural toddler, who walks at a young age. Young Prudence turns life tipsy every time she changes from human form to a toddler vampire, complete with fangs, when she touches any vampire, including her adopted father. She also transforms into a wolf cub, complete with fuzzy tail, when she touches any werewolf, including her own father. This makes life quite challenging for her preternatural mother, Lady Maccon, and her supernatural werewolf father, Lord Maccon, as they venture forth from their odd home, in Lord Akeldama’s third closet, to an ocean liner for a voyage to Egypt at the command of a Vampire Queen, and to search for information about the God-Breaker Plague, also to find out what Alexis’s father was really up to at the time of his death, and for Ivy and her husband and their acting troupe to perform their rendition of The Death Rains of Swansea for the Egyptian Vampire court . As I read Timeless, I wondered if all four were tied together, and if so how. I was pleased at the revelations and the conclusion Gail Carriger came up with.

Timeless is a great finish to an incredible series. Witty, funny and creative, Timeless also prepares us for the Parasol Protectorate Abroad series with a new Vampire Queen and a glimpse of a new Werewolf Alpha in the future I laughed out loud as I always do when reading Gail Carriger’s books. I will miss Alexia and I hope to see some of her in the coming series with Prudence. Timeless is a fun read, a great escape, and I highly recommend it.

Blogging Contest: I’m giving away an autographed copy of Gail Carriger’s Manga book of Soulless, an autographed copy of my To Love A London Ghost novel, and two Lady Mechanika comic books, Issues #1 and #2. To enter the contest, please comment below and include your email so I can contact you if you win. Here is a trailer for To Love A London Ghost.

You all know how much I love these books. Gail Carriger is one of my favorite authors. When this surprise landed in my mailbox I didn’t read it, I devoured it in two sitting, while the hubby looked on in worry asking me why I was laughing so hard.

A ghost is on the loose and threatening Queen Victoria, Felicity has (gasp) joined the suffragette movement, there’s an infestation of zombie porcupines, and Madame Lefoux is inventing strange things. Alexia must deal with these while in her most delicate condition.

Carriger has done it again, taking us on a hilariously adventurous romp through supernatural society, complete with giant octopi, porcupines, and, of course, treacle tart.

I love that these very proper books don’t take themselves seriously and that they’re funny. Now, I do love dark books, but sometimes you need a book that makes you snort in an unladylike fashion and laugh so hard you nearly upset your tea.

I for one, love these covers, but then I also know the cover model.

Overall this was a wonderful, quick read. There is plenty of humor in Heartless. There’s all our favorite characters including plenty of the ever fabulous Lord Akeldama and sweet Biffy. There’s Alexia’s baby…and, well, we can’t forget the porcupines!

My only problem with this book, is, as usual, that I have to wait a year for the next.

I totally forgot to put up the Feb edition of “In My Mailbox.” I’m still very new to the whole Vlog thing. I get so nervous and I just know I said something wrong. And, oh, the faces I make! I don’t think I’m doing this right.

So, has everyone recovered from holiday madness? I hope whatever you desired was under the Christmas tree. The new year is approaching and there’s a lot of great things to look forward to.

The end of 2010 calls for a review of my favorite Steampunk books of 2010. However, this list only draws from the books I’ve personally read that came out in 2010. Books I read in 2010 that were released earlier were not included in this list as were books not specifically “Steampunk.” There’s some great Steampunk books released this year that I haven’t read yet. Also, this is just my own personal opinion.

Lolita Suzanne’s Best Steampunk Books of 2010

Best YA Steampunk of 2010

Summary: Modo is a fourteen-year-old shape-shifting British secret agent. Once again Modo and the unflappable Octavia Milkweed embark on a mission for Mr. Socrates in this tale of sea monsters, gadgets, French spies, and secrets.

Why I loved it: This year I discovered this series and I’m really enjoying it. Modo and Octavia are terrific characters. These books are very fun and adventurous and I love how Slade draws from all the classics. I hope to see more titles in 2011.

Best Steampunk Anthology of 2010

Summary: A followup of their 2008 anthology, the VanderMeers bring together an anthology of Steampunk fiction short stories and non-fiction articles suitable for both those new to the genre and avid Steampunkers.

Why I loved it: I love the eclectic nature of the collection and how the VanderMeers blended original stories, reprints, and non fiction. Everything is artful–even the cover. Gail Carriger’s essay is my personal favorite.

Best Steampunk Book of 2010

Summary: Alexia is back and part of a scandal, having left her husband’s house and being in the family way. She’s dismissed from the Shadow Council, Lord Akeldama leaves town before he can help her make sense of everything, and attacked by mechanical ladybugs. In order to sold the mystery, Alexia embarks to Italy to consult the Templars.

Why I loved it: I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but the cover model is simply extraordinary. ~grin~ I adore these books and am a major Gail Carriger fan-girl. Like the other books in the series, these books are fast-paced, cleaver, and make me laugh. What’s not to love about homicidal lady bugs, Ivy running a hat shop, and Alexia saving the world one cup of tea at a time?